U.S. Marshals

Directed by Stuart Baird, U.S. Marshals follows Tommy Lee Jones’ Sam Gerard as he and his team, which includes Joe Pantoliano’s Cosmo and Daniel Roebuck’s Bobby, spring into action after a homicide suspect (Wesley Snipes’ Mark) escapes federal custody. There’s ultimately little doubt that U.S. Marshals fares best in its briskly-paced and often genuinely exciting opening stretch, as filmmaker Baird, working from John Pogue’s screenplay, delivers a compulsively watchable endeavor that’s heightened by top-notch action set-pieces and a series of first-class performances – with, in terms of the latter, Jones’ predictably commanding efforts matched by an agreeably eclectic supporting cast that includes Irène Jacob, Kate Nelligan, and Robert Downey Jr. It’s fairly disappointing to note, then, that U.S. Marshals‘ gripping atmosphere slowly-but-surely gives way to a middling, meandering midsection and second half, as the narrative’s increasingly convoluted bent, which is compounded by a palpably overlong running time, essentially (and effectively) diminishes the impact of the movie’s overtly positive attributes. By the time the admittedly satisfying climax rolls around, U.S. Marshals has confirmed its place as a decent-enough sequel that generally feels as though it should’ve topped out at around 90 or 100 minutes.

**1/2 out of ****